Davao Travel Itinerary and Expenses 3D 3N

I’ve wanted to go to Davao for so long. Having heard and read of its superb security, safety and natural beauty, I was always curious why this city is different from other cities in the Philippines. I have many questions like: Why are they getting lots of prestigious awards? Why is it one of the safest cities in the world? Does the government of Davao have ties with the infamous Davao Death Squad? Is it really beautiful there?

The cost of flying to Davao always hindered me from going as the fare is almost the same as say to another country like Hong Kong! But lucky for us that last year, I finally booked a roundtrip piso fare from Air Asia! What a steal!

Our Davao adventure finally happened and my curiosities were ended. Now it’s my time to give back. Here is our travel experience in the Philippines’ new seat of power! You will see our itinerary, accommodations, places we went and expenses (divided by 5 people). Please note that this trip is not much of a backpacking trip since I also considered the comfort level of my parents but surprisingly, we didn’t spend much either. Read on for further details.

As mentioned above, I booked roundtrip piso (1 peso) fare tickets from Manila to Davao but payment totalled to P827.84 per person including seat request, check-in baggage for our return and some fees (including online processing fee). Still not a bad deal.

Going to Downtown Davao from Airport

From the airport, you can easily ride a cab or use Uber or Grab Taxi to downtown Davao.

Around Davao

Taxis are still the undisputed mode of transportation here for tourists. But if you are on a very tight budget and don’t mind knowing the routes, then multi-cab is your choice. There are also tricycles with umbrellas there called Payong-Payong plying around the city.

For the tours, I’ll explain it in the Tours section.

Going to/from Samal Island

This depends on what part of Samal you are going to as there are several wharfs in Davao where you can take a barge going to the island city. In our case, we went to Sasa wharf to go to Camp Holiday resort in Babak district. Fare for the barge ride is P10. You can also take the Island City Express Bus that takes the same barge.

Aboard the barge to Samal

Around Samal Island

There are many habal habal, tricycles and multi-cabs in Samal. If you want, you can rent a car in Davao then take the barge and drive it there in Samal as places of interest are also far from one another.

More info on the tours section.

Accommodation

In Davao City:

Royale House Travel Inn

We booked one Triple sharing room for P2100 a night and one economy double room for P950 through Agoda in Royale House Travel Inn. The room’s nice and clean, though it needs some re-paint job and the aircon’s knob is loose. Breakfast is free with your choice of continental or Filipino (silog meals) plus banana and coffee/tea. It was a nice stay overall though I’d suggest to train their reservation staffs to handle the bookings more efficiently because I contacted them directly at first and they told me they don’t have a triple sharing room when in Agoda the room is available?

It was our last day in Davao and we just wanted a place to leave our bags while exploring the city. I searched the net and found Hotel Uno to be one of the cheapest, so we went there and ask if we can book two fan rooms for the five of us. The receptionist happily assisted us and even recommended us not to book a room anymore (since we are not staying overnight) and just leave our bags to them for free and pick it up when it’s time to go to the airport. I was glad with the offer but humbly declined and asked them if we can just book one fan room since I assumed that we might still need the room to pack our things and maybe rest for a little. The room cost us just P300 for a double bed fan room.

We enjoyed the suite room in Camp Holiday Resort in Babak district for P3500 a night and it was worth it. The suite has 2 rooms (1 Kingsize bed, 1 twin room), 3 air-conditioners, 2 bathrooms, 2 LED TVs and a fridge! It also has a nice veranda overlooking the whole resort. Plus, guests who are checked in can enjoy the infinity pool for a nice, warm dip.

We availed of Kuya Joey’s Davao Package 3 Tour for P3000 that consists of the ff:

Ampatuan’s abandoned mansion

Duterte House

Duterte’s House in Davao

Eden Nature Park

Philippine Eagle Center

Fighter!

Malagos Garden (skipped)

Japanese Tunnel

Crocodile Park (skipped)

Tribu K-Mindanawan (skipped)

Butterfly House (skipped)

Durian Candy Factory

Shrine of Holy Infant Jesus of Prague

Shrine of the Holy Infant Jesus

Jack’s Ridge resort

We skipped some places there since we spent a lot of time in Eden Nature Park and in the Phil. Eagle center. Kuya Joey is a very kind and accommodating person. He always assisted us with our needs and he let us enjoy our time and wasn’t in a hurry. He even waited for us to finish the mass in the Shrine of Holy Infant Jesus before going to Jack’s Ridge for dinner.

Overlooking view in Jack’s Ridge at night time

The whole day was very well spent and my parents really enjoyed the tour especially Eden Nature park where we tried the skycycle and skyrider and toured the whole park with their shuttle tour. You can also buy fruits on the way to Eden as it tends to be cheaper there than in downtown Davao city.

We’re so thankful of Kuya Joey that even when the tour finished late at around 8PM, he didn’t complain and asked for additional charge. We’re very satisfied of his service and we highly recommend him to anyone planning a tour in Davao!

On our last day in the city, we DIYed the places to see. We went to the ff:

People’s Park – nice park with lots of trees!

Bankerohan Public Market – for fruits

D’ Bone Collector Museum – make this optional in your tour.

Whale bones

Museo Dabawenyo – This is a must. Free entrance plus you’ll gain lots of knowledge about Davao and its government. Picture taking inside the museum not allowed.

San Pedro Cathedral – boat shaped church

Roxas Boulevard Street food and night market

Aldevinco for Shopping

The place we regretted not visiting is the Davao City 911 Center. Had I known that we can actually go on a field trip to the 911 center then we should’ve went there instead of the D Bone collector museum (which is nice but we would just prefer the 911). We were informed of this of our guide in Museo Dabawenyo but it’s too late since it’s already 5PM. Anyway, the national government said that the whole Philippines will have a 911 by August (Thanks Mayor!).

Samal Tour c/o Mang Jun

I didn’t research on the transport services there in Samal because I just planned to get one when we get there, but lucky for us, Kuya Joey recommended a multi-cab driver (based in Samal) to tour us at least to 3 places we planned to visit for half a day. We paid P1500 to Mang Jun to visit Monfort Bat Cave, Hagimit Falls and Vanishing Island. Entrance fees and boat ride expenses posted in the end of this blog.

Where’s Batman?

Vanishing Island

The one thing I kinda regretted is we didn’t wander around the famous beaches here. Well, there’s always next time! I heard Isla Reta is a paradise.

Food

3 days is a short time to explore food in Davao but I think we managed to eat at least some of the best. Here are some of them:

Penong’s BBQ and Seafoods Grill

We ate here twice. Yes, twice! At first visit, we didn’t get to order their chicken barbeque for a reason I don’t know why, but it did leave us a positive impression of the food and the restaurant. Of all our orders that time, their pinakbet stood out the best. Fresh veggies with savory sauce topped with mouth watering chicharons is my description of their pinakbet. Servings is ample and price is affordable.

See what I’m talking about?

On our second visit, I then ordered their chicken barbeque and all I can say is it is worth visiting the second time around! The barbecue marinade is very tasty and the level of sweetness is just right as it seeps down to the very bone of the chicken. I got no decent picture as I devoured the food immediately, sorry for that.

This is a no-brainer must go dining place if it is your first time in Davao. The overlooking view of Davao is great with all of its pretty lights shining. But what’s greater is the food! Their barbecues are top notch and the crispy pata is amazing as well. Never forget to include Jack’s Ridge in your itinerary, it’s worth it!

Crispy Pata in Jack’s Ridge

Roxas Boulevard Night Market and Street food

We were looking for some cheap barbecue (yes, bbq again) on our last day for dinner and one of the security guards in Hotel Uno pointed us to Roxas Blvd. Walking towards the area, we can already see barbecue smoke from several stalls grilling fresh meat from afar. That’s the smoke I always wanted to see.

We sat and ordered Chicken intestines (isaw), tuna, chicken liver and pork barbecue. I really don’t eat liver, but when I tried their barbecued chicken liver, I was an instant liver lover boy. I even asked for more, that’s how good their barbecue is in Davao. And of course, their isaw, tuna and pork bbq was amazing as well. The marinade and the sauce they’re brushing on the meat while grilling is the tastiest ever. Will definitely be back here if ever.

Yummy Isaw!

Expenses breakdown

Here is the detailed breakdown of our expenses. Please note that on Day 0, my wife and I were not yet with my family since we arrived later than them. Expenses from day 1 thereafter were divided equally by 5 people. Souvenirs not included.

Per Pax

Total 2 Pax

Total 5 Pax

Remarks

Day 0

Airfare (Air Asia)

827.84

1655.68

With check-in baggage (return), seat selection and online fee

Taxi from airport to Hotel

90

180

Royale House Travel Inn (2N)

950

1900

Double bed aircon

Midnight snack

45

90

2 order of batchoy

Day 1

Kuya Joey Package Day Tour

600

1200

3000

Eden Nature Park entrance

220

440

1100

Plated snacks included

Eden Nature Park shuttle tour

120

240

600

Skycycle and skyrider combo

300

600

1500

Penong's BBQ Lunch

154.2

308.4

771

Phil. Eagle environment fee

4

8

20

Phil. Eagle Entrance fee

150

300

750

Japanese Tunnel entrance fee

50

100

250

Jack's Ridge dinner

402.6

805.2

2013

Day 2

Taxi to Sasa Wharf

31.8

63.6

159

Barge ticket to Samal

10

20

50

Camp Holiday Suite room (1N)

700

1400

3500

Good for four pax

Mang Jun Multi-cab service

300

600

1500

Monfort, Hagimit, Vanishing Island

Monfort bat cave

100

200

500

Hagimit falls entrance

40

80

200

Hagimit falls environment fee

5

10

25

Cottage Hagimit falls

30

60

150

Lunch in carinderia

61

122

305

Boat to/from Vanishing Island

100

200

500

Vanishing island entrance fee

25

50

125

Dinner

90

180

450

Carinderia and lechon chicken/liempo

Day 3

Breakfast

36

72

180

Durian

28

56

140

Barge ticket to Davao City

10

20

50

Taxi to Hotel Uno

34

68

170

Hotel Uno (1N)

60

120

300

Booked a room just to leave our bags and rest for a while

Penong's BBQ Lunch

162.4

324.8

812

Taxi to Bankerohan

13

26

65

Multi-cab to San Pedro Ext.

7.5

15

37.5

From Bankerohan to San Pedro Ext.

D Bone Collector entrance

80

160

400

Taxi from San Pedro Church to Hotel Uno

10.1

20.2

50.5

Dinner at Roxas Night Market

55

110

275

Taxi from Hotel Uno to Airport

33

66

165

Terminal Fee - Davao airport

200

400

1000

TOTAL

6135.44

12270.88

21113

For a total of P6,135.44 per person, it’s not bad for a semi-budgeted family trip. You’ll notice that we didn’t hold back on pigging out, transportation (we rode taxis), tours and stayed in a nice 2-star hotel and a suite in samal and yet we still didn’t spend that much. It’s not luxurious but it’s not cheap.

So there you go, hope this blog helped you in your planning and hope you’ll enjoy Davao as much as we did!

He is a programmer by profession but has a soul of a traveler. Aside from his ultimate dream of travelling around the world, he loves to eat, drink, listen to music, talk about aliens and the occasional secret guilty pleasure of singing love songs in videoke. His favorite superpower is to teleport from one place to another. I guess you know why.

My mom badly wants to visit Davao and Samal Island and I have no idea on where to start with our itinerary as I have never been there before. This is sooooo very helpful! Thank you for this. And Oh, I’m planning to go to Japan as well and Nara is one of the places that I would love to see, so thank you for your blog about your visit there as well. All the best!

About Us

My wife and I are on a life adventure to travel the world one step at a time. We maintain a travel fund and always travel on a budget without sacrificing much of what life has to offer. Besides travelling, we both love to eat and try different cuisines. We value experience more than any other things in the world. Join us in our epic adventure of love and travel! Cheers!